Imagine If Michael Jordan Went To Adidas?...
I recently watched the movie ‘AIR’ and if you haven't you should! Here are some more interesting facts about the movie and the story of Air Jordan....
Happy New Week,
I recently watched the movie ‘AIR’, a sports drama film directed by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon who are also costars in the movie. The two started their own independent production company ‘Artist Equity’. The idea and ethos behind the company is that instead of continuing to work for hire, they would generate their own films and their own projects and agree to work exclusively for Artist Equity. They want to push for independence, creative freedom, and financial equity for all involved. They live by this and one example of this is how the movie ‘Air’ came about.
The movie ‘Air’ was originally written by Alex Convery, someone who was watching The Last Dance documentary and decided to write a spec script. For those who don’t know a spec script is short for speculative screenplay, a script that anyone can write and hopes to sell. Ben Affleck decided to look further into Alex’s spec script and see if they could do something with it. Alex feared that because there were so many changes to his script that he couldn’t take credit for the script anymore. However, instead of getting a co-writing credit which in this case is very fair, Ben Affleck gave Alex sole credit.
The film takes the audience on a journey of how Nike signed Michael Jordan as their main basketball talent and how the Air Jordan brand came about. The partnership came together when Nike was a relatively small shoe company looking to break into the basketball market. At that time Adidas was leading the basketball shoe market, and everyone wanted to sign with them. They were even Jordan’s top choice but Nike offered him a deal that he and his parents just couldn’t refuse, his own sneaker line, Air Jordan. A sneaker line that revolutionised the industry and quickly became the most popular shoes in basketball.
We also got an insight into the story of Sonny Vaccaro - a former sports executive, played by Matt Damon. Sonny was the main man responsible for signing Michael Jordan to Nike. Sonny played a pivotal role in Nike’s expansion into basketball, scouting for young talent to represent the brand. He launched a famous summer basketball camp before every other shoe company did it, to shine a light on young, up-and-coming talent. Jordan wasn’t the only major athlete Vaccaro signed, in 1996 he signed Kobe Bryant to Adidas. He was also responsible for campaigning against the NCAA, making sure that college athletes are properly compensated for their names, image, and likeness.
Sonny had to go through some hardship to get Jordan signed to Nike. He had to convince the Nike marketing team and CEO Phil Knight to let him use up the whole year's budget to sign Jordan. When Ben Affleck spoke to Michael Jordan about the script, it came to light that his mother Deloris Jordan played a huge role in his signing for Nike. She was the one that had the final say and Sonny had to win her over. Here's an interesting fact, Jordan specifically asked for Viola Davis to play his mum.
Michael Jordan's brand partnership with Nike is one of the most successful collaborations in the history of sports marketing. It has been a win-win for both parties, this partnership helped Michael Jordan become a billionaire, he earns $400 million a year in passive income due to the 5% he gets selling Air Jordan sales and Nike has made $19 billion in the past five years from the brand.
Nike has benefited from the massive popularity of the Air Jordan line, and Jordan has become one of the most recognisable and successful athletes in history. The brand has helped to solidify Jordan's legacy as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and it continues to be a major player in the world of sports marketing. Nike and Jordan’s partnership is a great example of a successful brand partnership. I love the fact that his mum, Deloris Jordan, made sure Michael got a percentage from all sales. This definitely set the precedent for future athletes with the shared revenue athlete and brand partnership model.
I highly recommend watching the Air movie, the movie doesn’t touch on Jordan’s life and his achievements much, it focuses more on how the brand partnership came together and the major players involved.